Invitation to the Voyage
by rayemars
Summary: Azula and Zuko, the kind of satisfaction that only comes from besting the one better than you. [Art of War 2]


Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

Set in the same arc as The Peaceful Ones.  
——————

-

The coup and its aftermath had taken the majority of the day.

By the time Azula decided the Dai Li agents feared her enough that they wouldn't go rogue and strike back during the night, and the five generals had been put to death after a brief trial that she presided over (Mai had been charged with writing down their crimes against the Fire Nation, and Azula had told her to use legible handwriting since the records had to be sent back to the court, which was why she'd looked extra irritable as she slumped against the pillars and waited for Azula to finish listing indictments and get to passing the blanket judgment), it was late afternoon; and by the time she was finally able to wash up, it was sunset.

Azula, Mai and Ty Lee had abandoned their old clothes after the fight with the Kiyoshi warriors, rather than risk being caught with an indication of the Fire Nation on them. So when she dressed, it was still in Earth Kingdom colors; only this time she wore brown.

"He's in the upper pavilion," one of the Dai Li agents answered when she demanded Zuko's location, and started to give her directions before Azula cut him short.

"I've already studied the palace's layout," she replied coolly. The agent nodded once to her, and kept his eyes lowered as she turned and left.

None of them had done that with Long Feng. It was one of the first things she'd noticed when they brought him before her; and it made her wonder how the man thought there had been any possibility that things would turn out differently.  
-

Zuko was standing back between two of the pillars in the pavilion, staring out at the city below. He'd rinsed the caves' dust out of his hair at some point, but was still in the brown clothes he'd worn earlier, which didn't surprise her. Brown was the closest they had to red until the army entered.

Azula watched him carefully as she approached; but by the time she allowed her footsteps to be heard, her expression had changed.

"The city of Ba Sing Se," she said warmly, stopping to his left and just slightly behind, where he wouldn't be able to see her without turning his head. "Soon the Fire Nation flag will be flying here . . . something even our grandfather and great-grandfather couldn't do." Azula let the corner of her lips curve up. "And it was done _before_ Sozen's comet arrived."

Zuko was silent for a little while, eyes on the walls below; and when he did reply, he spoke quietly. "You did impressively."

Azula glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and made a note that he had yet to look at her. It meant that he still couldn't control his emotions well enough, so he was trying to cover for it by not letting her see his face.

That the worst case hypothesis, at least, which was all Azula was concerned with.

"_We_ did impressively, brother," she replied a moment later, and then reached out and took his hand. Zuko started at that, and tilted his head slightly towards her before catching himself.

"Come along," Azula continued a few moments later, and turned to the side. "We still have to deal with that Dai Li agent who helped Iroh and the Avatar's group break in. I'm going to let Long Feng handle him, but he needs to be instructed how."

That agent was the same one who'd given Iroh the information that had allowed him to find Zuko, which was why she didn't let go of his hand until she felt him turn and begin to follow behind her.

Azula counted out how many seconds it took him to do so.  
-

Later that evening, after the agent had been executed, she stopped by Mai and Ty Lee's new rooms.

"Don't let my brother into the dungeons," she ordered them. "One of you stop him subtly if you see him heading that way, and the other come back and warn me."

"How?" Ty Lee asked, leaning over the back of her chair to stare upside down at Azula.

She smirked. "Well, Mai could always trip and fall over him. _That_ should certainly work."

The glare Mai gave her was somewhat lessened by her blush.

"Do you think he's going to try?" Ty Lee asked, folding her arms behind her head.

"I know he is," she replied. "I can always count on Zuzu to act the way I expect him to."

Mai set the knife she'd been sharpening down on the counter and picked up a new one. Ty Lee stretched out her legs, still leaning back over the chair, and flexed her feet.

"Oh, Azula!" she added, when the other girl turned to go. "That chancellor guy wanted to know when you want to send the word back to the Fire Nation army, so he can pick the squad to do it."

"Tell him to wait and that he should be speaking to me," she answered. "He won't be doing anything without my supervision yet."

"One of us could go with the squad," Ty Lee offered, tilting her head slightly to make up for the angle Azula was standing at now. "That'll be the fastest way to convince the army they can come in now, right?"

Azula turned back around fully and gave her a long, silent look.

". . . Or not," Ty Lee replied, leaning forward again fluidly and touching her toes. "Whatever you want."

Azula glanced over at Mai, who was still working on one of the knives. She had figured it out by now, Azula was certain, but as long as she wouldn't have to go home to her parents, she didn't care what Azula did. Ty Lee would probably take another day with no news sent to catch on.

"What do you want us to do about the old man?" Mai asked, when Azula started to turn again.

She paused.

"Nothing for now," Azula answered a moment later. "I'll handle it if it looks like he's becoming a threat. Goodnight."

"Night, Azula!" Ty Lee called as she left. Mai grunted.

Azula closed the door behind her and started down the hall to her own rooms, glancing out the windows as she passed them. Below in the distance, the streets were quiet, the flickers of light along them ordered and calm--the majority of Ba Sing Se didn't even know yet that they now belonged to the Fire Nation.

_The lowest form of warfare is to attack cities_, she quoted to herself with a smirk, and looked back down the hallway. Somewhere beneath her feet, her ever-famous and respected uncle was finally in captivity, while she controlled the city that had taken her only two days to conquer. _Siege warfare is a last resort. The highest form of warfare is to attack strategy itself_.

Holding their uncle's life in her hands gave her a measure of insurance against any plans of Zuko's, and bringing the Dragon of the West back in chains would be an incredible enhancement to her reputation. But it wasn't worth sacrificing her long-range plans for. Iroh's corpse would be almost as good, if not as presentable; and if his death caused Zuko to slip and attack her again, she would have a ready-made excuse to get rid of him.

Azula opened the door to her rooms and lit the lamps negligently, already working out her backup plans.

-

_And the earth grows cold  
In an incandescent fire.  
There all is order, naught amiss;  
Comfort and beauty, calm and bliss._


End file.
